Bryan Johnson’s girlfriend tracks her ‘nighttime erections’ with 'techno tampon'

Key Points:

• Biohacker Kate Tolo uses a $15,700 "research grade erection device" nightly to measure vaginal blood flow, aiming to track female "erections" during sleep as a potential indicator of longevity and sexual health, similar to how nighttime erections predict vascular health in men.
• Research shows women experience nocturnal clitoral erections due to increased blood flow during REM sleep, but technology and research on female sexual health using such devices have remained stagnant since the 1970s.
• Tolo’s device, a tampon-shaped light sensor, collects data on vaginal blood flow, which could help distinguish between physical and psychological causes of female sexual dysfunction and potentially serve as an early warning sign for cardiovascular disease in women.
• Unlike men’s erectile dysfunction, which is recognized as an early indicator of heart disease, no validated clinical test exists for women; Tolo’s work is pioneering in exploring whether vaginal blood flow patterns can similarly predict heart health.
• Tolo advocates for more research into women’s health disparities and has developed "the female protocol," a comprehensive biomarker measurement system to better understand female physiology while controlling lifestyle factors.